"!!!"
At that moment, even Yemu, who had always thought he had everything under control since arriving in this world thanks to his knowledge of the plot, could not keep the shock from his face. The figure who had only ever appeared in the story as a black silhouette, the final villain of this world and the mastermind behind everything, had truly appeared before him, and his usual composure vanished.
And when he clearly saw the face hidden in the darkness, the astonishment in his eyes became even more obvious. But soon after, it turned into pure excitement.
"Interesting!"
Unlike those five old men, there was no boring game of oppressive aura. Standing high before the throne, the person who represented the true peak of power in this world looked down at Yemu with sharp, deep-red eyes like an eagle's, then spoke in a magnetic, icy female voice.
"How nostalgic. Looking at you is like seeing us eight hundred years ago."
Then, in a low voice, she asked a question.
"Do you really think you can do better than we did back then?"
At this point, many things no longer needed to be spelled out. Both sides already understood what the other meant.
"Who knows? But no matter how bad it gets, it won't be worse than things are now."
Yemu's answer was just as confident.
After hearing his reply, Imu slowly turned to look at the weapons beside her, the ones representing the kings of the Twenty Nations. Nostalgia filled her eyes as she said, "When the Twenty Nations first united, we thought the same way you do. But eight hundred years is enough time for everything to rot beyond recognition."
At that point, she suddenly changed the subject.
"Since you were able to build that kind of spaceship, you must have already discovered the ruins hidden within the Infinite Land."
"Mm."
Yemu nodded lightly.
"In other words, you've already seen it. The blueprint for that Paradise. What did you think?"
"It was impressive. Using Devil Fruits as the core source of all energy to build a perfect kingdom, one where there would be endless food without farming and endless wine without brewing. A world without oppression or slavery. It really was a dreamlike nation."
"Oh? So you intend to do the same? I heard you also founded a nation of your own. The Rainbow Kingdom, was it? A lovely name."
Yemu shook his head.
"When I first saw that blueprint, I did think about it. But in the end, I rejected everyone's proposal. That kind of nation is beautiful, yes, but it isn't realistic."
"Why?"
There was confusion in Imu's voice.
"Ever since the great flood of ancient times swallowed this world and turned it into what it is now, food has become the root of every divide. The land in this world simply can't sustain all the life across these seas, whether it's ancient races like the Lunarians, the Giant Race, and the Merfolk, or races like the Furfolk, the Tontatta, the Longarm Tribe, and others. Isn't it a good thing that there's a solution now?"
Yemu gave the woman a sidelong look.
"If it were really that good, then wouldn't the World Government have stopped existing long ago?"
After answering, Yemu thought for a moment before giving his own answer.
"A world with endless food without farming and endless wine without brewing might sound wonderful, but I've always believed everything comes at a price. Besides, I prefer to take things one step at a time. Not having to worry about food is certainly great, but if everything else can't keep up, endless reproduction will only create more problems. After all, whether it's humans or any other living creature, the only purpose of being alive isn't just to eat."
After Yemu finished, Imu looked at him calmly with her deep-red eyes, then spoke in a long, drawn-out tone.
"You really aren't him. If it were that fool, he would only say, 'I don't care. I just want to create a world where everyone can eat their fill, and everyone can live together freely.'"
Yemu froze for a moment, then thought of Luffy's personality and sighed. "That really is the kind of willful thing you'd expect from a protagonist."
"Yes. But this world cannot be changed by willfulness alone. He naively believed that as long as he built a vast nation that could be called Paradise, broke through geographical barriers, and let everyone live together, he could create a new world. But he forgot that compared to geographical barriers, whether the Red Line beneath our feet, the Grand Line, or the Calm Belt, what truly keeps people from living together as equals is the distance inside their hearts. That is why he failed in the end."
With that, Imu looked at Yemu.
"Do you think you can do better than all of them?"
Yemu did not answer. Instead, after everything they had discussed, a question had formed in his mind.
"You don't seem to care that I'm going to overthrow the Celestial Dragons and the World Government?"
"Why should I care? Whether it's the Celestial Dragons or the World Government, to me and Uranus, they are only tools used to maintain stability across these seas. You've met that child Nicholas. You should have heard many things from him."
"Mm. Quite a lot, including the origins of the Celestial Dragons, the ancient race of gods, the Twin Trees, the energy that gives birth to Devil Fruits, and more... But it's strange. Some of it seems different from what I saw in the murals on the Moon and in the ruins of Shandora. Especially one term that caught my attention. GOD D. What exactly is it?"
Imu, however, was not surprised.
"Of course. In order to conceal the history of the Void Century, the royal families of the original Twenty Nations erased every trace from the outside world, while also altering that period of history for their own descendants. That is why even among the Celestial Dragons themselves, very few still know the true history of the Void Century, including GOD D."
"I see. In that case, would you be willing to tell me what the real truth is?"
"Unfortunately, no. Whether from my personal position or because of the promise made among the twenty nations when the World Government was founded, that history is not something I can speak of by my own will."
"Is that so? Then why don't I ask a different question instead? One that's been bothering me ever since I saw you."
Since this woman who seemed to know everything was being so easy to talk to, Yemu had no intention of wasting the chance.
"What question?"
"It's simple. What exactly is your relationship with Alabasta? Or rather, with the Nafirutali family...?"
At that moment, even Imu, who had remained calm and expressionless the entire time, showed a faint trace of surprise.
"Why would you ask that question?"